I suspect the data may be misleading. Unsolicited sales calls from genuine businesses are not the same as spam/scam calls
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France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
171–180 of 525 posts
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#172Great idea! Telemarketers have ruined the phone network for me. I haven't answered an unknown call for the past 10 years, which sometimes means I miss important ones. 99.9% of all calls are an attempt to get money, and the 0.1% that's a dentist appointment, a friend that changed numbers or whatever become collateral damage. A ban is the right idea but I wonder how they can handle it, logistically. I think there needs…
There doesn't need to be any kind of technical solution. If a telemarketer wants to sell something, they must declare the name of their company. The company name can be reported to police (or whatever authorities are going to handle this) who can then fine the telemarketers.
And if they don't declare the name of the company? There are a lot of shady people out there. Plenty of them will happily call and give a fake name, or just something vague that sounds important, like, "This is Rachel from cardholder services".
So it turns out we really do need a technical solution, which is unforgeable and easily traceable access to the telephone network. Plus robust enforcement of consumer laws, something wildly out of fashion in the US.
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#173Great idea! Telemarketers have ruined the phone network for me. I haven't answered an unknown call for the past 10 years, which sometimes means I miss important ones. 99.9% of all calls are an attempt to get money, and the 0.1% that's a dentist appointment, a friend that changed numbers or whatever become collateral damage. A ban is the right idea but I wonder how they can handle it, logistically. I think there needs…
Yes though most of the calls I get are scams. And most of them come from abroad now because Spain also banned them. It is not a very effective measure
Lista Robinson works great in Spain though, enroll there and enjoy the silence :) May take a month or two to really kick in, and if you've already enrolled but it's not working, check that the details are 100% correct. Worked both for me, my wife and tons of friends, although it takes time before it works.
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
There doesn't need to be any kind of technical solution. If a telemarketer wants to sell something, they must declare the name of their company. The company name can be reported to police (or whatever authorities are going to handle this) who can then fine the telemarketers.
What if the business says 'That wasn't me?' I mean, everyone can call anyone and name any company already.
That's where we can actually use technical solutions though: businesses shouldn't be able to place calls without cryptographically signing their origination with a key derived from their business registration.
Phone calls are essentially end to end voip these days so we have the ability to deliver that metadata.
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I can't just do that You can in fact just do that. Whether or not you should is another question.
In context, "I can't just do that" means "I shouldn't do that".
In context, me saying 'You can just do that' means 'You should do that' (barring there being good reason, which I haven't seen so far).
I hate that phrasing. It was weaponised by teachers in my youth. It's still used by some people to close doors and remove options without good reason. I'll make fun of it whenever I can.
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#176Great idea! Telemarketers have ruined the phone network for me. I haven't answered an unknown call for the past 10 years, which sometimes means I miss important ones. 99.9% of all calls are an attempt to get money, and the 0.1% that's a dentist appointment, a friend that changed numbers or whatever become collateral damage. A ban is the right idea but I wonder how they can handle it, logistically. I think there needs…
You don't need to ban telemarketing, you just need to make void and nulls contracts made by phone. Do so, and 99% of telemarketers no longer have the incentive to call anybody.
Walk me through an example here.
I'm a telemarketer who calls you up, sells you on something, and charges your card.
What changes in that scenario?
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#177My pet peeve is that a full class A attestation is still not a requirement in 2026. The US FCC won't do it. I have no hope from the current administration. However, perhaps France is in a unique position to implement this. The idea is that all calls that have a domestic caller ID will be required to have full class A attestation and all carriers will be required by law to block any calls that do not have such full at…
Me too. The problem is now I trust Meta with much of this instead of the FCC which is awkward for me. I use on Messenger and Whatsapp much more often for voice calls, and you know exactly who is calling.
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Phone number always belongs/registered to someone?
Alas, last time I checked numbers were something that was announced in-band, so it could be trivially faked by the caller. But I'm not sure if that's still true.
Spoofing a number can be a felony on it's own.
Even if there's no explicit laws around that, who's getting billed for the calls?
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's why you go after the people who run the company if they do that.
So they setup an LLC, or the owner is a homeless guy who signed the paper for $50, or dozens of other options you could do to avoid I wonder how enforceable that France thing will be
Anti-spam measures work by increasing cost and friction for spammers, not by stopping them completely. A burner LLC costs more than a burner SIM card, so it's a step in the right direction.
Re: France to ban unsolicited telemarketing calls
#180Norway has the same law. I get no spam calls like this from Norway. What I do get is spam calls from abroad. Often with a spoofed Norwegian number. Why can't operators block this? I know call centers and various things need to "spoof" a number they own, and when I myself call from abroad my Norwegian number will come from outside Norway. But why can't they attest the numbers somehow? Owner of +47 XXXXXXX is currently…
It is technically possible, here in Finland such blocking (i.e. all inbound international calls with Finnish caller ID, except for roaming) has been obligatory for a few years now (https://traficom.fi/en/news/obligations-regulation-come-effe...).